It's Almost Here!!! (Dec 21)

Gabe here--sorry I posted these last two posts out of order!

MUM!!! It'S ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!! CHRISTMAS... CALLING YOU ALL.... It happens so quickly!!!!!!!!

I've been so filled with excitement, love, and gratitude this week it blows my mind. What an exhiliarting feeling to have. No better time of year, and yet so often we put this Spirit behind us as soon as the Christmas season is over.

 

I have found a way to keep it alive. The way it came for me was through going about doing good. This week was the time to go out and do good and see the miracles that come from it. So, starting off the week we went on exchanges with some missionaries local to our area. I was with a man named Elder Crapo. No relation to Yvette Crapo back home. (Thanks for your letters though).

 

We went out and were doing street contacting while walking to our next appointment, when a lady pulled up who was carrying stuff into her house. I thought, LET'S ASK HER IF WE CAN CARRY STUFF IN! I was a little surprised when she said yes, and handed us a mini pool for her grandkids, and also a bag of plastic balls, no less to jump in I imagine.

 

We helped her out and found out her name was Wendy. She is 60 years old and had a ROUGH upbringing, but found God when she was 17. Her husband cheated on her, left her with 3 kids at the age of 26, and she struggled by herself for 29 years. With God's help she made it through. I related to her your story mum, and she and I connected. It was AWESOME! We got a return appointment to share about "He is the Gift" and I'm sad I won't be there. She gave us Lindt chocolate to eat on our travels.

 

That morning I had passed up a prompting to talk to a lady across the road out of sheer laziness I imagine... It was just a "Ah.. it's across the road... it'd be awkward..." And I knew it was a wrong choice. The rest of the day I promised I'd do my best to talk to everyone and help along the way. Heavenly Father provided some awesome opportunities.

 

 

So on a more awkward and funny note, I was GQing in the mall with Elder Crapo and I talked to this young couple named Mark and some... crazy... part Aboriginal name for thise fair skined lady (his wife) and their small child. We had a great conversation about God but... his wife straight up just started breast feeding right infront of my face. DA HECK!?!? I was a little bit taken a back, but I just let it go. Man oh man... it was weird. Then I talked to another man who turned out to be a schitzophrenic. That was interesting, and I knew he wanted peace but he wouldn't accept the chance to learn :\

 

 

It was a great week though. I've had some awesome experiences, and there was a Bishopric member that went out of his way to help answer a question I had on making prayer more meaningful. He printed out some tips and strategies and gave it just to me... I was so taken back by it! I was humbled... and ever since then I've just gone on a giving rampage! We made little gift packages for all the missionaries in our District.

 

We've gotten smashed with food. :)

 

 

Love you mum. Enjoy Paris!

 

this will be the weekly email as well!

 

 

PHIL,TASH, JULIA (the daughter who is 15) and their 3 small children Bruce, Myrium, and Elizabeth, came to church and they fit perfectly into place. THey just look like a church going family. We'll keep you up to date.

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Keep going out and doing good. Mum and Dan... I'm so proud of you for your missionary efforts, and I know that Heavenly Father is just beaming with joy.

 

Love you all! :)

 

 

Elder Sargeant

The road less traveled by--- (Dec 28)

G'day g'day to all around the world!

Elder Sargeant here, just wanted to fill you in on our Christmas adventures.

Let's start off with the beginning of the week. One of the most exciting parts of the mission for me is trying to come up with ideas that get the missionaries together..... I fail epically at it. That's why we have other missionaries who organize DISTRICT CAROLING!!! So,Tuesday we went up to my old stomping grounds to do some caroling with the missionaries in the North of Tasmania. We went around to members, investigators, and others around the area. Some of the missionaries got members involved to play guitar, harmonica, drums, and ukulele. It was full on. We sang a few songs and had a blast the whole night. Christmas eve, as missionaries, is the time to go out and smash as many lessons with investigators and others as possible. That's what we were going to do... but we did an interview for a baptism with a Chinese guy named Eric Wei! HE IS THE MAN!!!!

So, to say "hello, how are you?" You say something along the lines of: Nee-how Ma?

But... Elder Iliffe said a different phrase. It was the first thing he said to Eric when he sat down to chat with him and instead if translated as "Hello, you're beautiful."

CRACK UP AS!!! They laughed for a bit.

So, Christmas eve we got given 4.4 lbs of CHOCOLATE. WHAT THE HECK!!!!

Next day, 5:45---basketball. 7:30--- Breakfast 1----Dowes 9:00---Breakfast 2 --Jury family 12:00---Lunch 1 with the Blackwells 2:00---lunch 2 with the Evans 4:00-5:30---basketball.

6:00-9:00---dinner with the Parsons and playing guitar/skyping family! SO AWESOME! We got smashed with presents...food... and love. Can't beat it!

On top of that we took photos of all our goodies in a pile. It's impressive so don't be too jealous. 

My favourite miracle was Christmas Eve when we went to see a new family we've been teaching known as the Fraser Family. They have 7 total---Phil, Tasha, (kids -->) Julia 15, Bruce 7, Elizabeth (3-4?), Miriam 2, and then Samuel who's like 2 months or something. We had a great lesson with them and taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was SO strong and they were so keen to listen... ON CHRISTMAS EVE. Great great family. They know what's important ;)  We invited them to be baptised and Phil + Julia said Definitely! Tasha is working through some things. She knows that if it's true she will be so we'll help her find her answers. NExt day, they looked up all the commandments and we had a chat with them about those commandments a few days later. They came to church and loved it! I WAS GUTTED TO LEAVE!!!!!!!!

Phil said he was praying that I'd stay a bit longer since we'd built up this relationship. :\ Sad day..

By the way, I'm being transferred. Did I mention? Where? I don't know. Promised land 2 I hope.

But saying goodbye was hard. Many people gave me hugs, which was strange at first but you embrace the old ladies and accept it. You can't deny people happiness. Tears were shed by the Blackwells and that was really sad... I've never felt so much love from people in my life. I've never been able to have that much impact before, and I don't feel like I even did that much. It goes to show... happiness is not found in cars, money, or riches... but in time spent with people. Love can't be bought---only expressed, given, shared, and accepted.

Well, I must depart. Gotta go to the airport! I'll attach some photos.

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Mum--- it was awesme talking to you and Dan! :) I missed your guts.

-Elder Sargeant 

Eric Blackwell + Me

Terrific Tassie Transfer of Christmas Fun (Dec 14)

G'day g'day, how ya doin?

Elder Sargeant here, just giving a shout out to my mum, because I love her. Mum... I love you. 

Also a shout out to my Dad in Nevada, thanks for the letter! I've meant to write you, but I didn't have your address so now I have it. President Maxwell was very humble about me getting a talk given by him. He laughed and said "watch out for false doctrine." He's the man.

This week was a good week! We had our mission Christmas Conference, wait... TASSIE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE! We're basically the guinea pigs for these things so it was good. We had a massive feast, sang Christmas carols, watched some uplifting videos, and Elder Worsencroft and I sang a duet off the cuff. It was a really good song called Gesu... something in another language. I really love singing.

OH! One more shout out to a family I love dearly: THE KINGS!!! They came and saw me up in Launcestn Tas, during our Christmas party! MISS YOU GUYS!!

During our week we had some cool experiences, 1 that I would really love to share. One of my favourite promises in the scriptures is "Open your mouth and they shall be filled." I have a testimony that that is true.

We went to go see these potential investigators that we met a couple weeks ago. We walk up to the house in a pretty run-down area called Bridgewater. A Metallica poster was hanging from the window and the lighting was dark. We knocked on the door, and a tall red headed guy opened up and invited us in. His name is Andrew. We met his brother Will previously and that's who we were there to see. So we walked in and there we see Will... chuckling on the couch, embarrassed and unsure how to act. The reason... he was smoking a bong with his mate. I was a bit irritated at first, thinking, "what is the point of trying to teach these people. They won't feel anything at this point." Oh how wrong I was. You gotta learn to bite the bullet and listen to the promptings! Inside something kept whispering ever so slightly, to keep there.

Ended up starting a conversation about Christianity and how Jesus was a Jew and such, which led to other things. My companion and I were blessed with words to say and you could see in their eyes the interest they had in knowing if these things were true. I was humbled afterwards, only slightly because I'm still a pretty terrible person, to see how much we were "filled" when our mouths were "opened." It works! Just open your mouths and speak. It's powerful, if you're doing the Lord's work.

Miracle:

A part member family called the Roach family came to church on Sunday! Sister Roach!

We''ve been working with their family for a while (just dropping in and saying hello). She called us up one day and asked if we could play sports with her 2 sons Solomon and Steven. We did and shared a message. They went on the YM campout, and her oldest son watched 17 Miracles with us. They came to church... We're KEEN AS for them! KEEP SHARON ROACH, SAMUEL, SOLOMON, AND STEVEN in your prayers. They need it.

I Love the Christmas season. I wish it felt more like it here, but it's getting there slowly. Enjoy the snow for me!!!

Love you all!

-Elder Sargeant

Don't let your guard down! (Dec7)

G'day all! Hope all is well in the cold as winter of America/ where ever you find yourself.

Our summer thus far has been quite cold and rainy, but hey we can still wear shorts so not so bad.

This past week was a pretty interesting one. We went up to Melbourne for a meeting with the Mission President and the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. It was a spiritual experience and we had CAFE RIO FOR LUNCH! Fetch I miss that stuff. In the words of my mom "Nectar of the Gods (*as she shakes her hands in expression of delight*) All those that know my mum well know that expression and that phrase. Love you mum!

I learned this week to NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!!!! Why?? After the Meeting in Melbourne, I realized that I needed a haircut. We have some clippers at the flat so about 30 minutes before bed I asked one fo the Elders to trim the sides just a bit, since my hair was getting over my ears--- looking like a dag.

So, Elder Nyanhamo came and was like "Bro, I got you." As he approached my hair.... BOOM THE GUARD SLIPPED AND I GOT BUZZED WITH A 1 on the side of my head.

It was so crack up, but we worked through the disaster to fix my hair. It actually doesn't look bad but every one says I look like I should be in the Navy.

Moral of the story, don't let your guard down... or let Missionaries cut your hair when it isn't a P-day, even if you are trying to do what is right!

On a more Spiritual note, we've been really blessed to find prepared people here. We tracted in the dodgiest place in Tasmania and were fortunate enough to find a family of 7 that are Searching for the true church! When we met them I was immediately taken back by the feeling of goodness I felt just being in their home. It was an indicator to me of God working in us. They're coming to church!

SANDRA GOT BAPTISED!!! Despite her fears, she was really looking forward to it and it was a blessed experience. She loved getting the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday as well. 

NO TIMES!!! LOVE YOU!!!

-Elder Sargeant

[Gabe here-Elder Sargeant ran into the King family this week and they sent us some pictures. You can see Elder Sargeant's new hair cut!]

Wallet Butt (Nov 30)

G'day g'day all, hope you are all going well!

Let's jump right into things here and tell you about our fantastic week. It was really good to be honest! We've seen some miracles and had some cool experiences as well as some laughs along the way. My companion and I have been doing heaps of door knocking as we're looking to find those that prepared! 

So, first of all we were in Ward Council meeting today and out of no where at the end Brother Mackay came up to me and asked a very interesting question, and making an even more interesting observation regarding my pants and the back pocket...

He said in his South African accent, "Elder, has someone been trying to steal from you?"

I was a bit confused, but I replied "No,"

"Well, I've noticed a bulge in your pocket from you wallet I'm assuming? You really should get that fixed Elder."

He then went to tell me that there is something called "wallet bum" for those that keep their wallet in the back pocket for too long and sit on it. It can cause walking problems when it hurts a nerve in your butt. I thought it was funny... "Elder, watch out for wallet butt!"

Lessons to be learned each day!

This is going to be short... 60 seconds left! Couple shout outs

1) Jeff gave fantastic testimony on Sunday!

Yeah.... the Gospel is true :)

-Elder Sargeant 

Glorious gospel! (Nov 23)

G'day all!

What a Glorious day to live! We had a fantastic week of finding, seeing miracles, and being able to use talents and gifts for the purpose of bringing others closer to the truth.

I had to say goodbye to my last companion Elder Cavanaugh as he embarked on his journey to the mainland. My new companion and two other missionaries came down on Wednesday to Glenorchy and we were settled in in a couple hours time.

My companion is 26, stands at 6'5, and loves to play soccer and ping pong. He plays guitar, and is a BEAST at it. He used to teach at a music college in England before he came out. Oh yeah, he's also from Lester England and LOVES the gospel. He strengthens my faith each day. 

We had some miracles happen this week that really made me enjoy the mission even more! We found 2 families!!! 2 and they are keen for learning more. One family we found is obsessed with Michael Jackson, so we pretended to sing and dance to Thriller. It was crack up. My falsetto voice is to be bragged about I reckon. They let us in and we were able to share with them a little bit about what we do and what we share, about families, the restored Gospel, and the blessings of the Saviour in our lives. The kids and mum wanted us to come back, but the father was a bit standoffish. You could tell he had something pricking his heart that made him scared. However, we were able to set a time to come back around. KEEP GRAEME AND HIS FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS!! They need their hearts to soften.

Next, I will share shortly.

We went to see one of our investigators named Zack Young. We'd taught him previously and picked him back up. He's 16 and LOVES wrestling. So, we were able to go to their house and sit outside as usual. I've been trying this thing where I ask if I can use the toilet, and I really always do need to, but to get a chance to actually meet the family. I did.. we started talking to the mum named Melissa and dad named Adam, and BOOM WE GOT IN! We started out playing guitar for them because Adam loves guitar. I sang Hey there Delilah because it's the only one I can remember how to play and then my companion just busted out some songs. He knows everything. Then we sang, "My Heavenly Father loves Me" out of the Childrens Hymn book and taught them about God and how He can speak to us if we pray. He wants to hear us. The spirit was so strong. They all committed to pray EVERY NIGHT and Zack said a prayer to close. It was such a cool experience. Finally getting to use some abilities for good and sharing the gospel. What a blessing.

I was touched by the scripture that is on my mission plague back home.

Alma 26:3.

I read them this this morning and it filled my heart with the realization of the multitude of blessings that have come into my life since I've been a missionary. I'd lost sight of them... what I had been able to do in the strength of the Lord. I saw, as Ammon did, my own "nothingness" but I can say... With God we can do ANYTHING. He strengthens me and has helped me be an instrument in His hands to do good and become better. I still have many... MANY more things to improve on and I know what they are, but I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help me. And They will help you, IF you let Them.

I love you all. Stay safe! KEEP WARM! I hear there is heaps of snow in the states at the moment?

-Elder Sargeant

TRANSFERS....OF DEATH! (Nov 16)

G'day all!!

What an epic week of craziness. I'll let you know that the best part about being a missionary is learning about who you are and helping others along the way to find out that same thing about themselves. 

We were blessed with the opportunity to have a ZONE P-DAY in TASMANIA!!! It's been the second time in the 6 months I've been here... that's more than the past 3 years I reckon. We went to the Bishop of Deloraine ward's home--who lives on 50 acres of land. It was a crazy day for me personally because you get heaps of missionaries together, (19-21 year-olds) and people are very hard to handle. BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!! WE did a video for the Christmas Party we are having in Tasmania on the 9th of December.

This week was much of the same as last week. We were blessed to help out some missionaries and then to help out one of our Recent converts. She is in a bit of a hard spot at the moment... her partner who was recovering from drugs and was 4 weeks sober, got sucked into some bad stuff and got abusive. We were in the area and she texted us to help her, drive her away, or just take her some place. We were pleading for help of knowing what to do! Calling the cops would mean they'd be arrested and lose any chance of getting their son Tyson back from CPS (child protective services). We ended up calling a member from the ward and having him pick her up--- she is doing okay now. She's alive, that's what matters! the blessings of the Spirit and the guidance SHE received helped her stay as safe as she could in a very dangerous situation.

On a more happy note.... we were blessed with the Sandy Bay sisters setting... 9 BAPTISMAL DATES in the week. They are helping so many people come to Christ and they are all excited to be baptised. We're so blessed to work with such faithful sisters

My favourite part about the week was the Saturday-- we went finding and knocked on two doors before dinner. Doesn't sound like much but one of them was a Nepalese girl who said as after we opened the door... "ARE YOU CHRISTIANS?!?!? I AM TOO!!! I COME TO CHURCH WITH YOU!!!" It was hilarious! She was so outgoing and happy and she came to church!!! She's coming next week and we'll be going to see her again.

I am very grateful for Jesus Christ--- I've come to know Him and His endless love a little bit more this week. Transfers brings anxiety, but I'm staying in Tasmania again! I'm keen---more work to be done. I'm grateful for the chance to keep learning and growing and helping others. I love to learn to love others more. It's a great blessing being able to change and become better, and for that I am eternally blessed.

I hope that you all have a fantastic week!! Thank you for your notes, thoughts, prayers and emails. You have no idea what they mean to me, even on those days I let them slip my mind.

THE WORK IS TRUE!!

SHOUT  OUT---Sam.. my boy. Love you heaps man. You served valiantly. See you in 3 transfer buddy!

-Elder Sargeant

Crashed and burned (Nov 9)

Mum and everyone that reads it!

 

Well let me tell you the beginning of this week was fantastic. We went up to Melbourne for our monthly meeting and it was an exciting time. I won't go too much into detail because it'd bore you to tears, however I'll say that I was awakened to a new sense of HOW MUCH I LOVE THE GOSPEL AND SHARING IT!!!! I'm definitely not perfect at it, but I sure want to be.

 

 

Wednesday was the highlight of the week. We had a really good district meeting in the south town of Glen Huon, Tasmania. It was a rainy day and the streets were slick. After we finished up our once a week meeting, we were going out to lunch in town and were on Glen Huon Road. It's a bendy and pretty crazy one at that which reminds me of driving back home. Some of the Elders were two cars infront of us. All of a sudden, we saw their car was gone. Where did they go?? The Sisters infront of us slammed on their brakes. We were close to smashing into them, but luckily we skidded to the side of them in the middle of the road. Sister Bennion's face was in a state of shock and she yelled "they went over the side!!"

 

We raced up, pulled over, and ran back.

 

The Elders rolled twice over a guard rail and into a massive ditch about 10 feet below on top of a blue berry patch. Luckily, the back end was crushed and the front was completely fine where they were sitting. They climbed out, unharmed, but very shaken up.

 

All is well with the Elders... but goodness me it was surreal. It didn't even seem to be something that would happen. Luckily, they were protected.

 

 

We spent the rest of the week going out and working to make up for our lost time, and helping the Elders who were sick and recovering from their accident. It's a blessing to look after so many people sometimes.

 

 

We had a cool experience with someone named Ty Fellowes He is Daniel Fellowes brother! He reached out to us and asked us to come around to him in the psych ward, as he had attempted to take his life. He broughwo things: His phone and a copy of the Book of Mormon.

 

He wants to change. What a little miracle! We were able to talk to him and help him see what he needs to do and that it's possible for him to change. He is the man!!!

 

 

Other than that, all is good. I'll let you know what of release date ASAP so you can plan.

 

 

SHOUT OUT TO PAPA GISH!!!! He's sent me letter after letter and I've sent 0. I'm slack.. please forgive me, but chances are I probably won't get back anytime soon :\ Mondays are our worst days as we travel up north often.

 

 

LOVE YOU!!!

 

-Elder Sargeant

The Power of Yes (Nov 2)

G'day all!!!!

What a powerful week of adventure and experiences!! LET JUMP STRAIGHT INTO IT!!!

First of all, just a shout out to my brother Sam Gish! What a stud! He finishes his mission soon as and I'm so excited for the things he will be doing in the future. You must have had an amazing mission, and many wonderful experiences because I've seen you grow heaps. I'm stoked to see you again brother!!! Enjoy all those ladies that will be fighting for you tooth and nail ;)

So, this week started with a trip up north. 4 hours up, to exchange with the District Leader and his companion. I was blessed to go with Elder Hynds. We had some really cool chats with each other about our goals, experiences, the mission, and were yelled at a few times by some grumpy as old people who said we didn't know Jesus. I just laughed. We had a good chat at the end of our exchange and I've seen how the Spirit has influenced this missionary to change for the better. He has seen the impact that working has vs the impact of not working! HE WANTS TO BECOME BETTER. That made my heart sing.

Then we were blessed to have Zone conference where we were taught about Power of knowing who we are and what that means. We've been focusing heaps on this idea dn it's been a blessing to me for sure. My companion and I did a training on Teaching with Power, but we did an exercise that was so spiritual that I had never done before. We lined everyone up like so:

1   2    3   4  5   6   7  8  9   10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Even our Mission President and his wife joined. We took each other by the hands for 10 seconds and just looked into each other's eyes. What a cool experience. I have never done it before... and I felt so much love for each missionary. I felt their qualities, experiences and who they were. I saw the things they had that made them the person I had known, and the person that Heavenly Father knows. I was filled with something I've haven't felt in ages. It was awesome! 

Well, please save your prayers for our investigator named Malcolm. He wants to be baptised, and knows he should but he's scared and doesn't think he can do it. We had one of the most powerful lessons I've ever been in with him and his fellowship Anker and Kelly Fuglsang.

HE NEEDS HELP OVERCOMING HIS FEAR!!! PLease pray for him to find strength. He WILL do it! :)

I bear my witness that this gospel is true.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

-Elder Sargeant

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!? (Oct 26)

G'day all!

 

 

I've lost my knack for catchy titles so... I'll just pretend that crazy stuff happened. Well, it really did!!

 

This week was mainly spent going and helping the north district and going on exchanges. Let me tell you... there is nothing more enjoyable then going with a fresh missionary... who is straight from China... and hasn't learned much English. It was crack up as. After every conversation with people he'd always ask "so what did they say??" I would just chuckle, but seeing him teach by the Spirit really made me miss those days as a green missionary. You don't have much, so you MUST rely on Heavenly Father!!

 

 

Wednesday we got to fly to the City and GQ! I met some people from Maryland who were less active members and had some really good conversations with them. That was a recharge. I love sharing the Gospel, even if they aren't super keen. I'm doing what makes me happy, and what makes Heavenly Father happy... giving people a chance for THEIR own happiness and peace.

 

 

Well one cool thing that happened was with one of the Recent converts named Jess. She has been working with someone for about 1 month now and he wants to be baptised!!!! I'll share more next week. His name is Luke and he is the man,

 

it was a great week. We had a district p-day [Gabe here, p-day means preparation day] and I'll attach some photos!

 

 

Sorry this is short.... Lame.

Trail of Trials Sprinkled with Blessings (Oct 19)

G'day all.

Mum, this email will be directed to you, but also for everyone as I have no time left for two separate ones!

What a week this past week has been. Let me tell you of the struggle we had but of the many many miracles as well! Cheery and cheer is the attitude I tried to have but it was stressful. We had a sad situation come up where the beloved Ebbi, Jeff's partner, could not get baptised yet. However, she will be one of these days. That I promise. The hardest bit was that it was a mix of all of us that caused it, but we had the power to stop it sooner and missed it. That's okay. Through the rough Friday-Saturday we both felt like hands were smashing our minds with stress. I remember thinking to myself "what the heck... this is terrible." Then, I had a cool experience.

I was writing in my journal, being a bit pessimistic about the situation, and then I just recalled some things that happened amongst our week of trials.

1st- Adrian, one of our progressing investigators has been SMASHING through the Book of Mormon. He loves the scriptures and finds so much peace from reading them. We were able to meet with him after he was sick with the flu and taught a good Restoration lesson to him. He was keen to watch the DVD as well haha.

2nd-- We were blessed with meeting a very nice girl at the bus mall one day named Isabel. She is 16 but looked about 25 and was so nice to us. We chatted for a bit and then started to talk about her beliefs. She wants to know what everything si all about. She believes in something because having nothing after this life doesn't make sense to her. She the bus pulled up, she gave us her number and said "Make sure you call me!"

3rd- one of our recent converts (before I got here) named Jess Roberts decided to come back to church again! That was awesome. We missed have her. It was really cool mum, because she is the type of person that you can talk to about everything and she can make it real for you. It was nice to have her back at church again.

4th-- The weather was beautiful!

5th-- We ran up the hill in back of our flat in under 15 minutes. We accomplished our goal!

6th-- We had 7 people come to church on Sunday which was really cool. 4 of them were from a family we're trying to teach. Their names are Lucy, 12, Thomas, 11, Ebony, 15, and her best friend Bianca, 15. They are AWESOME AND LOVED CHURCH!!!!

We really were blessed... even when the hard parts came. It's crazy when you are so disappointed that you feel sick inside and yet are strengthened. I felt the love of Heavenly Father for us.

55 seconds!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

There ARE blessings even in the hard days.

-Elder Sargeant

I wish I had a catchy title, but I don't (Oct 12)

G'day all!

I just had a sobering and pretty crazy experience. I was told that I only have 5 more Fast Sundays before I come home. What the heck?!?!

Well, until then, we buckle down and GO HARD.

This week was good. We had heaps of appointments that kept us busy and some little miracles that made my day. 

One thing, I have received a couple ties for my birthday and HOW AWESOME ARE YOU FOR KNOWING I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!! 

1-- The Bowleys. I love this family. miss you heaps. thank you for remembering I'm 21... and that I can do what I want, especially with such a legit power tie in my collection.

2-Jebbi, AKA Jeff and Ebbi, the coolest people around. They bought me, and got the tie embroidered with "The Sarge" on the front in green. HOLY COW YOU ARE THE BEST. I'm wearing it at my wedding, not question.

Well, this week was pretty good. We had a cool little miracle with some people we are teaching, or trying to teach. Their names are Sharon and Michael and their 9 kids!

Yeah... 9 kids. So Ebony, Lucy, Thomas, Byron (Heath you'd like that one aye), Haiden, Harry, Archie, and Amber, and Nakita...<-- just met her so I can't remember her spelling. Anyway, they are AWESOME and love learning about God and Jesus Christ. We had a bring family prayer together, though the parents don't want to learn much, but they were so sincere and fun. We played the "guns game" to pick who prayed and they all were excited. My favorite part was when they all committed to pray together that night and every night. It was awesome!

One of my favourite experiences this week was after the Saturday General Conference Afternoon Session. We went to go see a Less active family and we watched a movie called "To this end was I born." It's a Bible video of the Savior and it touched my heart deeply to see Him and what He did for us. After, the 3 little kids all said prayers asking for help they needed and my goodness it was humbling. Their pure intents and desire to have "less bullys" and "help with spelling" was so sincere, it made me think of my prayers and if they are as sincere and heartfelt as Piper and Holly's were. 

Well, other than that... one milestone we had was running up the back of this mountain behind our flat in under 14 minutes! We shaved off like 2 1/2 minutes from our previous attempts. We were stoked.

The work moves forward each day! Conference was an awesome experience and I hope you all continue to apply those things learned. REFLECT ON THEM ALWAYS!... I never seem to do enough.

LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES!!!

-Elder Dane Sargeant

On our way to Zone meeting---Elder Campbell, Chen and Me!

Round 4 DING DING (Oct 5)

G'day all!!

Another 6 weeks in Heaven WOO! Got the news and we're staying here for another 6 weeks together. It'll be a miraculous time, and a growing one. We have about 3 fresh missionaries coming in to be trained and it's going to be wonderful to bask in their Spirit. I love new missionaries. I remember the time I first came to Australia and how much you rely on the Spirit in all things... and you can mess with them ;) HA jokes.

Anyway, this week was HECTIC AS! We had a MLC meeting in Melbourne and were able to fly safely there and back. Here is the fun part. On our way home, we were in the airport for 5 hours because of a delay. The engines wouldn't start! We finally got home at about 2:30am and then slept for 3 hours to go to another meeting in the North part of Tasmania. We brought our Recent Convert Sean Emerson. I love this man. He inspired us all and was able to give a speech about how he views us a missionaries.

I love what he says: "You guys saved my life. You're super heroes. You don't see the impact you do. You go out, teach, work hard, and you don't even know the impact you have on our lives. You reach people. You save them."

I was deeply touched. Never have I been called a super hero for being a missionary. It's a blessing and it has shown. We had a cool experience with one of our new investigators named Adrian! We knocked on his door about 2 weeks ago and tried to go back and see him the next day. Long story short... he wasn't there. My companion had the thought to go visit him on Friday and he opened the door immediately. He was saying how he wanted to come to church and get God back in his life again. He has had a loss of his Father in his life, his girlfriend take her own life, and he is searching for answers and forgiveness. What a humble man. We felt so much love for him and he let us come back on Saturday. We taught him about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, about forgiveness, and about being baptised. I invited him to be baptised and I felt this love overcome me. I knew that it was the love that God had for him! He said Yes, and he is KEEN AS!!

He came to church and Loved every second of it. He was a bit shy, but we got him his own scriptures and he was so excited to read them. He loves the Book of Mormon already and has read 4 chapters in 1 day.

Blessings!!!!

So, crazy story about one of our Recent converts named Jeff and soon to be Ebbi!!

Jeff got up and bore his testimony! WHAT A GANGSTA!!!!1 HE was like "Fellas... should I get up?" We encouraged him and he got up and did it. He's the man. Now, Ebbi... she is AWESOME and still continuing to shed her light. She brought her sister to church and I think she enjoyed it!

Dan and Sam are good too! Dan got a Moroni tie and tie clip. He looks like a missionary.

Life is good. Blessings are rolling! I'm grateful for the Gospel. It's true... learn about it and LIVE IT!

Love you all!

-Elder Sargeant

Week of trials brings miracles (Sept 28)

G'day all!


This past week was hectic, full of interesting and fun experiences and totally worth it at the end of the day.

We were able to go out and help some Elders up north in Launceston with their area.
Exchanges are fun as!! I was with Elder Chen, who is from China. He is so humble and loves to share the "happiness of God" with everyone he sees. What a great example.

We had some hard days with not much success, but towards the end we were able to see miracles.

We had 7 people at church on sunday, dropped our mobile in a sewage drain, helped someone move their blown away trampoline back into their yard (she and her daughter came to church and said "This is the one I've been looking for")

It was a fulfilling week of fun adventures. WE SAW A WHALE off the shore on our way down to Hobart, our area, from launie. It was awesome.

Transfers come up next week. Stay tuned for them!

LOVE YOU ALL!!! Keep Daniel and Sam Fellowes in your prayers as they continue to work hard and be examples to their family + Friends.

All is well

Elder Sargeant

Sorry About Last Week! (Sept 21)

G'day all! Please forgive for last weeks craziness... (Gabe here--Elder Sargeant didn't get to send us a regular e-mail last week hence no post from last week!) we had a jam packed day that didn't stop.

We were able to go with a member of our ward to a place called Freycinet National Park. It was one of the most beautiful spots I've ever seen as a missionaries in Australia. Tassie has the best places to go visit I reckon.

                    

However, this week was pretty good. It had a bit of ups and downs and that's okay.

To start, Ebbi and Jeff are doing well! They've been coming to church and are so fun. Last Sunday, Ebbi dropped a SpongeBob Square Pants quote in the place and it was hilarious. Never heard one in Gospel Principles.

She has committed to give up coffee and smoking on 2nd October so PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS!! We know she can and it's been amazing seeing the Lord bless her and work with her in her attempts to follow Him. Jeff is always a boss. Quiet dignity. That's the one. They're awesome.

We've been helping our recent convert Daniel also who has been struggling as of late. He's found some solace in his indexing! INDEXING IS LEGIT!! Family history is awesome, and he is doing so well with it.

Our new investigator named Ryan came to church, loved it, and then had a scary moment with us! He was visiting with missionaries from another church and they were tearing down everything we'd been teaching him, telling him that he shouldn't have us back. He told us and so we called him. I was able to have him see that we just wanted to help him grow his faith and we'd love to come and visit him. He agreed.

What happened next was nothing short of the Power of Heavenly Father and the Spirit.

We went by at 2:00pm on Wednesday. We showed up and decided to just listen to him and let him know that we were there for him and him only. We read a bit out of the Book of Mormon about the Spirit and how to recognize it, and then we decided to watch the Restoration video.

At the time where Joseph prays and has his experience in the grove, Ryan had tears in his eyes, and a feeling burning in his bosom. Sean, another recent convert, was there as well and Ryan committed to come to church and continue learning from us. He is the man. I LOVED seeing him feel the spirit and knowing that he was indeed on the right track. It was a testimony builder to me for sure.

It was a great week. Many growing experiences, and HEAPS of feeds from members. Spring time is coming! WOO!!!!!

Sorry again about last week. Won't happen, intentionally, again!

I'd love to invite those that read this to try something: if you've been struggling in your prayers, or haven't ever prayed... give it a go. You can ask any question, any thought that comes to your mind and find peace and comfort and answers. Try praying out loud and I promise you that God will answer your cry. You will be heard, and you'll find a renewed sense of belonging and new sense of purpose. Then, act on the feelings and thoughts you get!

Love you all! 

-Elder Sargeant